I won't order a custom built bass from ANYONE who's located too far away that I can't drive there.
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Absolute perfectionism is a common trait among many luthiers. I once worked for a luthier for a short time and witnesed the guy regluing in one tiny quarter inch long grain of wood about the thickness of a humain hair back into the top of an instrument. He was using some very interesting glue wicking techniques and some really interesting binocular magnification headgear like a jeweler might use. Anyone else would have just sanded it out, but his tops have to be absolutely uniform within 100th of an inch thickness and all glue joints must be invisible. (they truly were invisible too. He was real good.)
If an instrument wasn't right he would violently smash the thing. He was a bit crazy. But at the same time anything that DID survive the build shop was of incredible quality. They were definitely "all that" and not likely to have issues down the road.
I won't say who it was, but for good reason. He was very paranoid about trade secrets and even though saying "interesting glue wicking technique" doesn't convey any meaningful information I wouldn't be sure about how he would feel about it if he figured out I mentioned it online. Like I said, he is a wee bit irrational.
While it might well take 2 years to receive one of the above mentioned custom builds, Alembic or Carl Thompson will surely tell a client that he has to wait for 2 year, no? The OP's builder offered to finish the bass in about 4 1/2 months.
@shal1234,
I hope you get this sorted out to your satisfaction, good luck!
I've been trying to get answers from them for a long time. They just keep giving me excuses.
I ordered from Kevin at Krappy Guitars and had pics of the wood cut into shape the same day and the bass was at my HOUSE seven days after I ordered it, smelling like lemon oil and playing great.
OP, I hope you get your bass or your money real soon.
There is also this one: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I only found out about them the other day in another thread.
Why don't you forward them this thread and see what they think after reading it. Maybe they'll consider the fact that you haven't yet disclosed who they are and start coming up with actual answers/refund/progress. If what you say is true, no bass is worth that kind of hassle. It doesn't matter how nice it is.
No it's a different company. I just don't want to smear their name at this point in time. Trying to remain professional.
One of my favorite builders tends to be fashionably late. His prices and quality are great, so I can tolerate it.
Does your build have any odd features or parts? I once had a bass delayed 6 months while we waited for Seymour Duncan to build some custom 6 string bass pickups.
Does your build have any odd features or parts? I once had a bass delayed 6 months while we waited for Seymour Duncan to build some custom 6 string bass pickups.
My only exception would be Alembic. Other than that, you're 100% correct about the distance.
The parts are all standard. I did request specific dimensions for the nut width and string spacing. I think it was 40mm and 20mm, respectively. So I expected it to take longer than their original estimate, but not nearly 16 months.
If you decide to do business with crazy people, that's the way it often goes.
With so many good basses and builders out there, why deal with somebody suffering from clinical levels of OCD? I just want to buy something. Not fund somebody's obsessions.
I won't deal with crazies.
If they told you a delivery date, it shouldn't be over a year past the said date.
I might do this. Does anyone else agree that I should send them a link to this thread?
wmhill
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you have been more than patient......refund time.
Send them this thread and point out that it will keep growing and growing so they'll need to check it often. Folks here will surely want to know when and if there is a resolution. If their name were in it then it would be more likely to have an effect.
No, I think you should just say that you've waited 15 months, have been entirely reasonable throught the whole ordeal but have grown weary of the excuses and you want your money back. You want your money back today since you don't have the bass you ordered in 2014. You don't need backup, you don't need a posse. You are not in the wrong here. They have failed to deliver what you paid for and, at the very least, you are entitled to your money back.
I'm going to play devil's advocate here about you forwarding this thread to them.
You did not publish their name in the first post and even refused to do it when asked a few times. By doing so now it, they would be "Wait a minute here. Who is this person and why are they trying to ruin my company's name and reputation?". That is the side that everybody on here will see and will question your motive.
On the legal side, it has been over 15 months that you paid them. No credit card company is going to take your side because you waited too long to file a complaint especially when the quoted delivery date was about a year ago.
You have been accepting their excuses (your side of the story mind you, they don't have a side at this moment) for over a year and you expect a bunch of strangers on the Internet to do what exactly?
When Paypal had a 45 day limit on filing, I would put something in my Outlook calendar to file a dispute in 44 days. I also made it a point to send an email every 14 days if the tracking number was not sent or valid. Only 1 did I have to file a dispute and cancel it because the item arrived 3 days after the dispute was opened.
The harsh truth is you waited too long before you took any action.
You did not publish their name in the first post and even refused to do it when asked a few times. By doing so now it, they would be "Wait a minute here. Who is this person and why are they trying to ruin my company's name and reputation?". That is the side that everybody on here will see and will question your motive.
On the legal side, it has been over 15 months that you paid them. No credit card company is going to take your side because you waited too long to file a complaint especially when the quoted delivery date was about a year ago.
You have been accepting their excuses (your side of the story mind you, they don't have a side at this moment) for over a year and you expect a bunch of strangers on the Internet to do what exactly?
When Paypal had a 45 day limit on filing, I would put something in my Outlook calendar to file a dispute in 44 days. I also made it a point to send an email every 14 days if the tracking number was not sent or valid. Only 1 did I have to file a dispute and cancel it because the item arrived 3 days after the dispute was opened.
The harsh truth is you waited too long before you took any action.
I understand your point. And I agree that a person should have some expectations about the quality of service a customer should have to deal with. I also agree that having a clinical mental illness is no excuse for failing to meet expectations.
That being said, I've worked in fields where I've had to deal a lot with who you label "crazies". I just want to say that these people are, in fact, human beings and having the kind of attitude that your post conveys is part of the problem.
There is enough stigma and fear attached to mental health problems in society that it often prevents people from seeking help in the first place. Everyone has issues. If you try to wall yourself off from everyone who has a problem you find yourself boxed in and alone in a short time.
Some kind words and at least an attempt to understand others will get us all a lot farther to our goals.
